4th Michaelmas
October 26, 2014
Revelation 19: 11-16
Tolkovy Apocalypse |
And I saw the heavens opening
up. And behold, a white horse! And the rider who sat upon it is called faithful
and true, who judges justly and battles for justice. His eyes are like flames
of fire, and his head wears many crowns, inscribed with a name which no one
knows but he himself. The cloak that covers him has been dipped in blood, and
he is known by the name “Word of God”.
And the warriors of the sky
ride behind him upon white steeds, clad in clean, white linen. And he has a
sharp-edged sword coming out of his mouth with which to subdue the nations, and
he will shepherd them with a staff of iron. He treads on the winepress holding
the wine of the wrath of the will of God, the ruler of all.
And written on his cloak and
on his thigh is the name: King of all kings, Lord of all lords.
4th Michaelmas
October 26, 2014
Revelation 19: 11-16
In a game like chess, there
are rules. Certain moves are allowed and others aren’t. All the moves are
sequential. All the moves will ultimately have their consequences.
God created the greater
universe with a certain structural integrity. Things happen in a certain way,
in a certain order. There are consequences for everything that happens. Thank
goodness!
Last week’s reading gave us
the image of the great feminine archetype, the soul of humanity. She is
impregnated with the sun-radiant Son of God. She struggles to give birth to the
Son of Man, God within and among us. In today’s reading, we hear of how this
Son of Man operates when he is fully grown. He battles to maintain the greater
order, the order of justice and just consequences. He, humanity’s great I AM,
the Creating Word of God, subdues the nations. God’s love for us and ours for
Him is not to be supplanted by a nationalistic and warring love of nation that
destroys other nations. That time in the game has passed. That belonged to the
Gabrielic age, the age of exploration and dominance.
Now we are well into the age
of Michael. It is the age of the family of humankind. If humanity continues to
make unjust wars based on greed and national interests, we will have to experience
the other side of God’s love: we will experience the wrath which is the natural
consequence of our defying the greater order. If humanity continues to ignore
what is truly just, truly in line with the greater game plan that God has put
into place, we will be defeated by our own maneuvers. We will not be allowed to
up-end the chess board. If we break the rules, set ourselves against the
greater reality of the way things are, we can only ultimately lose the game.